Europa

Theatrical Release Date: 1992 05 22 (USA)

UPC: 715515034029

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity]

Summary: Europa (retitled Zentropa for the American release) is an hallucinatory Danish film set in postwar Germany. Jean-Marc Barr plays a young German who aspires for a job as a street conductor. But this is no mere "Joe Job;" Barr's adventures on the line are designed as a metaphor for the emergence of the "New Europe" following the war. Barbara Sukowa costars as the daughter of a railroad magnate--and possible Nazi sympathizer. Many of the special-effects sequences are computer enhanced, but even the "live" scenes have an unsettling, surreal quality to them (colors changing abruptly, backgrounds shifting without warning, etc.) This experimental film left some viewers confused, which may be why English-language prints of Zentropa are narrated by Max Von Sydow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize – Cannes Film Festival

Features: Disc One:
New, restored high-definition digital transer
Danish audio commentary with director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalb?k Jensen
The Making of "Europa" (1991), a documentary following the film from storyboarding to production
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation

Disc Two:
Trier's Element (1991), a documentary featuring an interview with von Trier a swell as footage from Europa's set and its Cannes premiere and press conference
Anecdotes form "Europa" (2005), a short documentary featuring interviews with film historian Peter Schepelern, actor Jean-Marc Barr, Aalb?k Jensen, assistant director T?mas Gislason, co-worker Niels Vorsel, and prop master Peter Grant
Interviews from 2005 with cinematographer Henning Bendtsen, composer Joachim Holbek, costume designer Manon Rasmussen, film school teacher Mogens Rukov, Gislason, Aalb?k Jensen, Grant, actor Michael Simpson, production manager Per Arman, and actor Ole Ernst
A 2005 conversation with von Trier in which he discusses the "Europa Trilogy"
"Europa": The Faecal Location (2005), a short film by Gislason

Europa

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 12/09/2008

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 107 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English,German

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Europa: Feature Film
1. Frankfurt, Germany, 1945 [8:42]
2. A Mythological Task [12:12]
3. Forward or Backward [12:52]
4. Young Assassins [7:18]
5. A Waste of Time [2:28]
6. "Do You Know This Man?" [4:30]
7. "I Am a Werewolf" [8:37]
8. Chalk-Mark Guarntee [9:11]
9. Munich, Christmas 1945 [5:23]
10. Honeymoon [6:24]
11. Bremen Express [3:48]
12. A Test [3:41]
13. Second Thoughts [4:49]
14. A Confession [9:45]
15. One Last Chance [7:20]
16. End Credits [5:05]
1. The Trilogy [9:05]
2. On Location in Poland [13:59]
3. The Actors in Copenhagen, July 1990 [5:30]
4. The Superimposition of Images [10:24]
Disc #2 -- Europa: Supplements
1. Thematic Parallels [7:02]
2. Film Shoot As "Happening" [4:31]
3. Commercial Success [10:56]
4. Idealism [6:34]
5. Hypnosis and Control [14:50]
1. Origin of the "E" [7:02]
2. A Film About Film [4:31]
3. An Interlude or Sequel? [10:56]
4. A Glossy Commercial Film [6:34]
5. A Director's Intentions [14:50]

Brendon Hanley

Danish auteur Lars von Trier has rarely been one to let narrative get in the way of technical razzle-dazzle. The director's Element of Crime was as convoluted as they come, but it featured some of the most menacing cinematography in recent memory. His first breakthrough in the American art-house circuit, Europa (re-titled Zentropa in the U.S. to avoid confusion with Europa, Europa), similarly unleashed a host of marvelous cinematic tricks. If the film is somewhat pretentious, he's forgiven, since the optical trickery and the black-and-white cinematography are so sensational. It's equal parts surrealism and normalcy, and the look is appropriate to the milieu of post-World War II Germany. Like Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville or a slowly-paced David Lynch film, Europa makes a definite impact. Von Trier was supposedly so upset at his film not winning the Palme D'Or at 1991's Cannes Film Festival, he made vulgar gestures at the jury and called its president Roman Polanski a "midget." ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Vera Gebuhr  Actor 
Henning Jensen  Actor 
Leif Magnusson  Actor 
Claus Flygare  Actor 
Else Petersen  Actor 
Ernst-Hugo Järegård  Actor 
Anne Werner Thomsen  Actor 
János Herskó  Actor 
Baard Owe  Actor 
Holger Perfort  Actor 
Bo Christensen  Producer 
François Duplat  Producer 
Patrick Godeau  Producer 
Lars von Trier  Director 
Lars von Trier  Screenwriter 
Gunnar Obel  Producer 
Joachim Holbek  Composer (Music Score) 
Peter Aalbæk Jensen  Producer 
Niels Vørsel  Screenwriter 
Jean-Marc Barr  Actor 
Barbara Sukowa  Actor 
Udo Kier  Actor 
Erik Mork  Actor 
Jorgen Reenberg  Actor 
Eddie Constantine  Actor 
Lars von Trier  Actor 
Max von Sydow  Actor 

Country: Denmark,France,Germany,Sweden